Psalms 13:1

Psalm 13 ¹ 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

13:1 How long, Lord, will you continue to ignore me? ² 

How long will you pay no attention to me? ³ 

Psalms 44:24

44:24 Why do you look the other way, ⁴ 

and ignore ⁵  the way we are oppressed and mistreated? ⁶ 

Psalms 74:1

Psalm 74 ⁷ 

A well-written song ⁸  by Asaph.

74:1 Why, O God, have you permanently rejected us? ⁹ 

Why does your anger burn ¹⁰  against the sheep of your pasture?

Psalms 77:7-10

77:7 I asked, ¹¹  “Will the Lord reject me forever?

Will he never again show me his favor?

77:8 Has his loyal love disappeared forever?

Has his promise ¹²  failed forever?

77:9 Has God forgotten to be merciful?

Has his anger stifled his compassion?”

77:10 Then I said, “I am sickened by the thought

that the sovereign One ¹³  might become inactive. ¹⁴ 

Psalms 79:5

79:5 How long will this go on, O Lord? ¹⁵ 

Will you stay angry forever?

How long will your rage ¹⁶  burn like fire?

Psalms 85:5

85:5 Will you stay mad at us forever?

Will you remain angry throughout future generations? ¹⁷ 

Psalms 89:46

89:46 How long, O Lord, will this last?

Will you remain hidden forever? ¹⁸ 

Will your anger continue to burn like fire?

Psalms 94:3-4

94:3 O Lord, how long will the wicked,

how long will the wicked celebrate? ¹⁹ 

94:4 They spew out threats ²⁰  and speak defiantly;

all the evildoers boast. ²¹ 

Isaiah 64:9-12

64:9 Lord, do not be too angry!

Do not hold our sins against us continually! ²² 

Take a good look at your people, at all of us! ²³ 

64:10 Your chosen ²⁴  cities have become a desert;

Zion has become a desert,

Jerusalem ²⁵  is a desolate ruin.

64:11 Our holy temple, our pride and joy, ²⁶ 

the place where our ancestors praised you,

has been burned with fire;

all our prized possessions have been destroyed. ²⁷ 

64:12 In light of all this, ²⁸  how can you still hold back, Lord?

How can you be silent and continue to humiliate us?

Jeremiah 14:19-21

14:19 Then I said,

“Lord, ²⁹  have you completely rejected the nation of Judah?

Do you despise ³⁰  the city of Zion?

Why have you struck us with such force

that we are beyond recovery? ³¹ 

We hope for peace, but nothing good has come of it.

We hope for a time of relief from our troubles, but experience terror. ³² 

14:20 Lord, we confess that we have been wicked.

We confess that our ancestors have done wrong. ³³ 

We have indeed ³⁴  sinned against you.

14:21 For the honor of your name, ³⁵  do not treat Jerusalem ³⁶  with contempt.

Do not treat with disdain the place where your glorious throne sits. ³⁷ 

Be mindful of your covenant with us. Do not break it! ³⁸ 

[13:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 13. The psalmist, who is close to death, desperately pleads for God’s deliverance and affirms his trust in God’s faithfulness.

[13:1]  ² tn Heb “will you forget me continually.”

[13:1]  ³ tn Heb “will you hide your face from me.”

[44:24]  ⁴ tn Heb “Why do you hide your face?” The idiom “hide the face” can mean “ignore” (see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9) or carry the stronger idea of “reject” (see Pss 30:7; 88:14).

[44:24]  ⁵ tn Or “forget.”

[44:24]  ⁶ tn Heb “our oppression and our affliction.”

[74:1]  ⁷ sn Psalm 74. The psalmist, who has just experienced the devastation of the Babylonian invasion of Jerusalem in 586 b.c., asks God to consider Israel’s sufferings and intervene on behalf of his people. He describes the ruined temple, recalls God’s mighty deeds in the past, begs for mercy, and calls for judgment upon God’s enemies.

[74:1]  ⁸ tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. The word is derived from a verb meaning “to be prudent; to be wise.” Various options are: “a contemplative song,” “a song imparting moral wisdom,” or “a skillful [i.e., well-written] song.” The term occurs in the superscriptions of Pss 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142, as well as in Ps 47:7.

[74:1]  ⁹ sn The psalmist does not really believe God has permanently rejected his people or he would not pray as he does in this psalm. But this initial question reflects his emotional response to what he sees and is overstated for the sake of emphasis. The severity of divine judgment gives the appearance that God has permanently abandoned his people.

[74:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “smoke.” The picture is that of a fire that continues to smolder.

[77:7]  ¹¹ tn As in vv. 4 and 6a, the words of vv. 7-9 are understood as a quotation of what the psalmist said earlier. Therefore the words “I asked” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[77:8]  ¹² tn Heb “word,” which may refer here to God’s word of promise (note the reference to “loyal love” in the preceding line).

[77:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “Most High.” This divine title (עֶלְיוֹן, ’elyon) pictures God as the exalted ruler of the universe who vindicates the innocent and judges the wicked. See especially Pss 7:17; 9:2; 18:13; 21:7; 47:2.

[77:10]  ¹⁴ tc Heb “And I said, ‘This is my wounding, the changing of the right hand of the Most High.’” The form חַלּוֹתִי (khallotiy) appears to be a Qal infinitive construct (with a first person singular pronominal suffix) from the verbal root חָלַל (khalal, “to pierce; to wound”). The present translation assumes an emendation to חֲלוֹתִי (khalotiy), a Qal infinitive construct (with a first person singular pronominal suffix) from the verbal root חָלָה (khalah, “be sick, weak”). The form שְׁנוֹת (shÿnot) is understood as a Qal infinitive construct from שָׁנָה (shanah, “to change”) rather than a plural noun form, “years” (see v. 5). “Right hand” here symbolizes by metonymy God’s power and activity. The psalmist observes that his real problem is theological in nature. His experience suggests that the sovereign Lord has abandoned him and become inactive. However, this goes against the grain of his most cherished beliefs.

[79:5]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “How long, O Lord?”

[79:5]  ¹⁶ tn Or “jealous anger.”

[85:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Will your anger stretch to a generation and a generation?”

[89:46]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “How long, O Lord, will hide yourself forever?”

[94:3]  ¹⁹ tn Or “exult.”

[94:4]  ²⁰ tn Heb “they gush forth [words].”

[94:4]  ²¹ tn The Hitpael of אָמַר (’amar) occurs only here (and perhaps in Isa 61:6).

[64:9]  ²² tn Heb “do not remember sin continually.”

[64:9]  ²³ tn Heb “Look, gaze at your people, all of us.” Another option is to translate, “Take a good look! We are all your people.”

[64:10]  ²⁴ tn Heb “holy” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV, NLT); NIV “sacred.”

[64:10]  ²⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[64:11]  ²⁶ tn Heb “our source of pride.”

[64:11]  ²⁷ tn Or “all that we valued has become a ruin.”

[64:12]  ²⁸ tn Heb “because of these”; KJV, ASV “for these things.”

[14:19]  ²⁹ tn The words, “Then I said, ‘Lord” are not in the Hebrew text. It is obvious from the context that the Lord is addressee. The question of the identity of the speaker is the same as that raised in vv. 7-9 and the arguments set forth there are applicable here as well. Jeremiah is here identifying with the people and doing what they refuse to do, i.e., confess their sins and express their trust in him.

[14:19]  ³⁰ tn Heb “does your soul despise.” Here as in many places the word “soul” stands as part for whole for the person himself emphasizing emotional and volitional aspects of the person. However, in contemporary English one does not regularly speak of the “soul” in contexts such as this but of the person.

[14:19]  ³¹ tn Heb “Why have you struck us and there is no healing for us.” The statement involves poetic exaggeration (hyperbole) for rhetorical effect.

[14:19]  ³² tn Heb “[We hope] for a time of healing but behold terror.”

[14:20]  ³³ tn Heb “We acknowledge our wickedness [and] the iniquity of our [fore]fathers.” For the use of the word “know” to mean “confess,” “acknowledge” cf. BDB 394 s.v. יָדַע, Qal.1.f and compare the usage in Jer 3:13.

[14:20]  ³⁴ tn This is another example of the intensive use of כִּי (ki). See BDB 472 s.v. כִּי 1.e.

[14:21]  ³⁵ tn Heb “For the sake of your name.”

[14:21]  ³⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[14:21]  ³⁷ tn English versions quite commonly supply “us” as an object for the verb in the first line. This is probably wrong. The Hebrew text reads: “Do not treat with contempt for the sake of your name; do not treat with disdain your glorious throne.” This is case of poetic parallelism where the object is left hanging until the second line. For an example of this see Prov 13:1 in the original and consult E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 103-4. There has also been some disagreement whether “your glorious throne” refers to the temple (as in 17:12) or Jerusalem (as in 3:17). From the beginning of the prayer in v. 19 where a similar kind of verb has been used with respect to Zion/Jerusalem it would appear that the contextual referent is Jerusalem. The absence of an object from the first line makes it possible to retain part of the metaphor in the translation and still convey some meaning.

[14:21]  ³⁸ tn Heb “Remember, do not break your covenant with us.”